Transformative Pathways to Resilient and Sustainable Futures

From 2025-2027, SARA will support eight working groups to synthesise knowledge under the general theme of “Transformative pathways” . The working groups aim to take a pathways approach to understanding how different systems can be transformed to meet societal, climate and biodiversity goals, by identify directions of change which can enable these fundamental changes in ways of doing and thinking. The eight working groups selected comprise a diverse range of experts from the Southern African region, and will each focus on a particular sub-theme, such as multifunctional conservation landscapes, gender and land rights, and climate resilience. 

Over the three-year period, groups will convene at a series of in-person and online workshops, with the goal to develop both academic and policy/practice engagement products and processes. 

The eight working groups:

1. Co-imagining resilient and sustainable African futures through arts-based practices 
2. Developing transformative pathways for integrated conservation landscapes
3. Advancing gender equity and land rights through knowledge brokering for ecosystem-based adaptation
4. Regional wild-harvest systems: seeds of resilience from across Southern Africa
5. Climate resilient futures in Southern Africa: Synthesising local knowledge, gender equity, and policy innovation
6. Governance pathways for Southern Africa’s wildlife conservation systems
7. Leveraging human-nature connectedness to promote sustainability transitions in Southern African urban settings
8. Worldviews and pathways towards transformative sustainable heritage futures in Southern Africa